US slaps sanctions on Haqqani commander, but not group

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday announced sanctions on individuals it said were linked to militant groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan, but stopped short of declaring the Haqqani network, blamed for recent attacks on American targets, a terrorist group.

“These financiers and facilitators provide the fuel for the Taliban, Haqqani Network and al-Qaeda to realize their violent aspirations,” Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David Cohen said in a statement.

As a result of the action, U.S. companies and individuals are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with the targeted individuals and any assets they hold under U.S. jurisdiction are frozen, Treasury said.

Yet the move is unlikely to dispel the mounting pressure the Obama administration faces to place the Haqqani group, whose attacks threaten to become a major obstacle to U.S. hopes for withdrawing smoothly from Afghanistan, on the State Department’s list of designated terrorist organizations.

That symbolic move would create further ripples at a moment when U.S.-Pakistani ties are severely strained following an accusation from the top U.S. military officer of Pakistani support for a militant attack on the U.S. embassy in Kabul.

The Obama administration is seeking to smoothe things over after the remarks from Admiral Mike Mullen triggered a war of words with the key ally even as it pushes Pakistan to crack down on militants fueling violence in Afghanistan.

On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the United States was close to a decision on whether it would declare the Haqqani group a terrorist organization. Lawmakers such as Democrat Dianne Feinstein, the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, have urged Clinton to put the Haqqani network on the terrorism blacklist, saying there was no question it met the standard for inclusion.

The group of individuals designated on Thursday includes Afghan-born Abdul Aziz Abbasin, described by the Treasury Department described as a “key commander” who the Haqqani leadership had appointed a leader in one volatile area of in Afghanistan.

“Abbasin commands a group of Taliban fighters and has assisted in running a training camp for foreign fighters in Paktika Province, and also has been involved in ambushing supply vehicles of Afghan government forces and the transport of weapons to Afghanistan,” Treasury said.

Also targeted was Afghan-born Haiji Faizullah Khan Noorzai, who Treasury said was a prominent Taliban financier, and his brother, Haiji Malik Noorzai, a Pakistan-based businessman.

The two have invested “millions of dollars in various businesses for the Taliban,” Treasury said.

It also named Abdur Rehman, a Pakistani who Treasury described as Taliban facilitator and fund-raiser, and Afghan Fazal Rahim, who Treasury said was a financial facilitator for al Qaeda and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.